Copyright 2006
Julien Gregg
All rights reserved.
No part of this story may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise, without written permission from the author. This story is fan
fiction. Almost all of the characters depicted in this story exist exclusively
in the imagination of the author. Any resemblance to an actual person, living or
dead, is purely coincidental. This story is based on the television
show, Charmed, and although the family name and a similar book of shadows appear
in this story, there are no characters from the show in the story. They may be
named, but they will never be portrayed.

Charmed is owned by Spelling Entertainment and Warner Brother's Television.
Certain spell text borrowed from the television show. However, since no money is
being made by this tale, I don't feel horrible about borrowing anything.

To read more of my stories go to my
personal site.
To read my personal ranting go to my
blog. Please participate in the discussion of this
story in my
forum.

From Chapter Five:

"What is this?" Dax demanded. "Drake, what have you done?"

As one the three cousins threw the potion vials at Dax's feet. The entire group began to read they're own section of the spell.

"Prudence, Penelope, Patricia, Melinda," said Dean.

"Astrid, Helena, Laura, Grace," said Damon.

"Phoebe, Piper, Page, Laura," said Drake.

"Wyatt, Chris, Donald, Shae," said Xander.

"Alistar, Adam and Jase," said the four of them together.

"Halliwell witches stand strong beside us. Strip the evil from the human before us," the entire group said together, and Dax let out an agonized howl of rage and pain.

Red light surrounded him as he twisted and screamed. Drake feared that they were vanquishing him by mistake. He couldn't believe how powerful that spell really was. He took his cousins' hands as he watched the spectacle before him. It seemed to go on forever, and even Jason and Sebastian orbing into the attic didn't tear his attention away from what was happening to his brother.

There was an explosion that rocked them all off their feet. When Drake looked up again, his brother was kneeling in the center of the circle. His skin wasn't red anymore, and his wings and horns were gone. His skin tone matched Drake's. His dark hair was a mess, and his black pants were nearly shredded.

"Why?" he moaned. "Why did you do this, Drake?"

He looked up at Drake with anguish in his eyes that Drake couldn't bare. He thought for a moment about what to do, and a spell formed in his mind. He hoped that Dax would come to understand and accept what he'd done. Now wasn't the time for that, though. He had to give his brother at least a little peace.

"To keep him from a terrible blunder, give him now a peaceful slumber," he said as he stood, watching as his brother slumped to the floor and fell asleep.

SixThe Power Of Five

They'd put Dax in Drake's bed to sleep off the effects of
Drake's sleeping spell. Sebastian had taken David into the kitchen to talk to
him and try to calm his anger toward Eliza. Dean and Damon were sitting in the
living room with Gregory while Drake sat across the room. Eliza watched her son
grieving for his lost love, and she wished she could tell him the truth about
Aaron. It was little comfort knowing that all would reveal itself at the proper
time. She wished the Elders would just tell Drake and ease his pain.

"So what have they decided about Drake's powers?" Dean asked Gregory.

"They don't know what to think," replied Gregory. "They know that there isn't
anything they can do about his powers. You three are the most powerful charmed
witches in history, and they can't change fate."

"I'm so sick of hearing about fate," sighed Drake, getting up from his seat and
leaning against the mantle of the fireplace. "Fate is what took Aaron from me."

"Drake," said Gregory softly, "I promise that you will understand soon. I can't
tell you what is going on, but you will be able to come to terms with this."

"I thought making Dax human would make this emptiness go away," said Drake.
"Nothing is going to make this better, Gregory. This isn't going to go away."

"You don't want it to go away, Drake," said Eliza, going to her son and wrapping
him in her arms. "This makes sure you never forget what he meant to you and who
he was. This makes sure that your heart knows sorrow so that it can embrace
happiness when you find it. Drake, I know that none of this is making it easier,
but you will accept this. You'll never stop missing him or loving him, but it
will get easier."

"What good is being a witch if I can't save the people that I love?" Drake
moaned into his mother's shoulder.

"Don't think that way," she cautioned. "You can save the people you love, Drake,
but you can't twist fate. You'll understand soon."

* * *

"I know that it won't make you any less angry, but perhaps
you were cursed into that book for a reason, David," Sebastian said as he and
David sat in the kitchen.

"Twenty years of my life are gone, Sebastian," replied David. "I don't even know
what happened to my white lighter. Everyone I knew is either gone or moved on
with their lives. I'm alone now, and they did this to me."

"But you have a chance at a new life now, David," argued Sebastian. "You have to
believe me. There are so many wonderful things coming in your future . . ."

"Like Xander?" David asked, cutting him off. "Look, I know that the two of you
are keeping the future secret to keep from altering it, but Xander slipped a few
times. What is it about me and Dean that he so clearly wanted to tell us but
felt he couldn't?"

Sebastian thought about it for a moment before he responded. Keeping the future
safe was dependant on its secrecy, but if it would help David to come to terms
with the years that were robbed from him what harm could it do? It wasn't as if
the future relationship between David and Dean was required for Xander's
existence. Sure his life would be different without David in it, but he'd still
be alive.

"All right," he sighed. "You have to promise not to reveal anything that I tell
you."

"I won't tell anyone . . ."

"I mean it, David," warned Sebastian. "Too many people knowing what is going to
happen could be disastrous."

"I'll keep it to myself," vowed David. "Just tell me."

"Xander already slipped that he's Dean's son," Sebastian began. "What he hasn't
told you is that you are his other father. You and Dean are married in the
future, and Xander is one of your sons."

"One of them?"

"That's all I'm going to tell you," replied Sebastian. "That's more than I
should have told you. Just know that being cursed into that book for twenty
years of Dean's life is what is responsible for the future union between you
two. If you hadn't been cursed into that book, Dean would have grown up knowing
you as a family friend. You would have aged twenty years. So many things would
be different, David. Believe me when I say that there was a cosmic reason for
what happened to you."

David was shocked into silence as he thought about what Sebastian had told him.
Dean, the baby he had held in his arms only days ago, or so it seemed to him,
would become his husband. The two of them, together, would father children. Of
course he knew it could be done. There were ways even twenty years ago that gay
men could have children. He just had to wrap his mind around the fact that Dean
would be the man in his life.

"Maybe I shouldn't have told you," sighed Sebastian. "I just wanted you to have
something that would make it easier to cope with what was done to you."

"I'm glad you told me, actually," replied David after a moment. "I can't say
that I can even imagine Dean in any other way than the son of my best friend,
but to know that we are together in your future, and in love, means a lot to
me."

"Just let it happen naturally, David," warned Sebastian. "Telling Dean what I've
told you will only complicate your relationship. He doesn't know you, yet. He
was just a baby when you were cursed into that book. Give him time to get to
know you, and let whatever is going to happen between the two of you happen on
its own. Don't push it."

"This is going to be in the back of my mind every time I look at him now, isn't
it?" David asked.

"Just don't let it get to the front of your mind and out of your mouth,"
cautioned Sebastian. "Xander's future depends on it."

* * *

"You don't understand what you've done, Drake," Dax moaned as
he sat up in the bed and looked at his half-brother. "They'll come for me now.
Do you understand that I threatened to kill an upper level demon if he even
tried to come near you again? They'll hunt me now. How can I defend myself if I
have no powers?"

"We'll protect you, Dax," Drake insisted. "My cousins and I . . ."

"The charmed ones," Dax breathed. "You don't get it. The underworld doesn't care
that you're the charmed ones, Drake. They only know that you are new to your
powers and don't know each other well enough to really trust each other. Drake,
they're all planning on attacking you. You have no idea how much power a demon
can claim if he actually kills the charmed ones. You won't be able to protect me
while you're trying to save your own skin."

"But not Ronan," argued Dax. "You don't understand, Drake. Ronan isn't just a
demon. He's the most powerful demon in the underworld now that Ash is gone . .
."

"We vanquished Ash," Drake interrupted.

"By sheer luck," scoffed Dax. "If it hadn't been for the power of three you
would have never beat Ash."

"But we did, and we do have the power of three," Drake said firmly. "We will
protect you, and you will adapt to life without powers."

"He isn't without powers," said Eliza's voice from the doorway, causing both of
her sons to jump in surprise.

"What are you talking about?" Dax demanded, standing to face his mother as she
walked into the bedroom. "I'm not a demon anymore. You all saw to that."

"But you are still a witch, Dax," replied Eliza. "At least I hope you are. It
isn't something that anyone knows about my great grandparents and my mother. My
grandparents were not mortals, and my mother wasn't either. They were witches.
That was why the demon wanted my great grandmother so badly. She wasn't charmed,
but she was a powerful witch. She was known as 'The Firestarter'. Demons always
came for her to turn her evil. When they couldn't turn her, a demon raped her."

"The Firestarter," gasped Gregory from the doorway. They hadn't heard him come
into the room. "Your great grandmother was Alexis Howel."

"Yes," admitted Eliza. "That was the one secret that I had to keep safe. I
didn't know if either of my sons would inherit that gift. I was fairly certain
that Dax wouldn't, but Drake? I had no way to test him, because I can't sense
power in witches the way my mother could."

"What makes you think that Dax has that power now?" Gregory asked. "You said you
can't sense power."

"But even if he didn't inherit her power, he has to have a power of his own,"
she insisted. "He's a witch, after all. The spell removed the demonic blood from
his veins, but it didn't disempower the witch within him. Gregory, think about
it."

"I'm not a firestarter," said Dax. "I can't start fires."

"How do you know?" Eliza asked him quickly. "You've only just learned the truth
about your blood. You don't even know how to test it."

"I can feel the power in you and in Drake," Dax said after a moment. "I can't
feel anything inside myself."

"Maybe you wouldn't be able to feel your own power," said Gregory.

"But the very fact that you can sense the power in me and your brother proves
that you are a witch, Dax," insisted Eliza.

"But I'm not a firestarter," he repeated. "I know, because I can't make fire."

"How do you know that?" Drake asked.

"Because I can't feel the fire inside of me like I could when I was a demon," he
replied impatiently.

"But you aren't a demon anymore," said Gregory. "Firestarters don't make fire
the same way that demons do, Dax."

He walked out of the room, and it wasn't long after that they heard him cry out
for help. Drake and Eliza rushed to the top of the stairs just in time to see a
dark haired man standing at the bottom of the stairs. Dax hadn't made it down
the stairs. He was standing about half way down them. The dark haired man smiled
evilly at Dax.

"Charmed. I know," said Lothos, smiling still. "But can they kill me before I
kill you?"

He held out his hand and a green ball of light formed in his palm. Just as he
was about to throw it at, Dax held up both of his hands, palms out. Fire shot
from his palms toward Lothos as Dax cried out in anger. Lothos jumped out of the
way just in time. His energy ball arched out of his hand and flew toward Dean,
but Dean held out his hand and flicked his wrist, sending the energy ball back
at Lothos. It crashed into the wall where Lothos had been standing, but he was
suddenly gone.

"What the Hell?" Damon cried as he raced toward the blazing doorway where the
fire from Dax's hands had landed.

Dean kissed his hand and blew ice at the flames, killing the fire. Xander
watched all of it in wonder. One of the secrets he was keeping was now out of
the bag, but at least he didn't have to tell them that Dax was a firestarter. He
just hoped that what he knew was coming could somehow be stopped.

"Who was he?" Damon asked, turning to face Dax as he came down the stairs.

"Lothos," replied Dax. "He came to kill me. Now that I'm human, I think the
entire underworld will be after me."

"What did you do?" Dean asked. "You're supposed to be human. How did you throw
fire?"

"He's a firestarter," breathed Xander. "His power is fire."

"Will someone please explain what is going on?" Damon asked.

"We need a vanquishing spell for Lothos," said Drake, ignoring his cousin's
glare. "He'll be back."

* * *

"Are we sure this will work?" Damon asked as he copied down
the spell that David had written.

They'd talked about Dax's new power, and the cousins were each a little afraid
of it. Xander would only tell him that Dax would learn to control his power in
the future. He clammed up after that. He did agree to help them vanquish Lothos,
but he wouldn't talk about the future.

"I'm telling you, you don't need potions," said Dax as he watched Dean gather
the bottles of potion that he'd just made to vanquish Lothos. "He's not a
demon."

"Then how can he make energy balls?" David asked.

"I don't know how he learned to do that, but I'm telling you that Lothos isn't a
demon," he replied.

"But I will be," said Lothos as he appeared out of thin air in front of Dax.
Another energy ball was in his hand. Dean, David and Xander moved to stand
beside Dax as Drake and Damon stood up from their seats. They each began to read
as Dax stared in shock at Lothos.

"Powers of the witches rise, course unseen across the sky. Aid us in our magical
cry. Rid this evil from our midst. Make it so he doesn't exist," they read out
loud, and Lothos was engulfed in flames.

He screamed and twisted his body in agony. But then he was gone and the flames
died. They were all staring at the place where'd been, but they knew he hadn't
been vanquished. He'd escaped.

"What just happened?" Damon gasped. "Why didn't it vanquish him?"

"Because he isn't a demon," replied Dax. "Lothos is human, but he's trying to
become a demon. I told you that the entire underworld will attack you. Aspiring
demons are no different."

"We haven't seen the last of him," said Dean. "We'll have to figure out a way to
kill him."

"You need a spell written specifically for him," said Dax. "You can't vanquish
him, but you can strip his powers."

"Uh, guys," said Xander. "I'd really love to help you with this, but I already
know how it happens, and I'm not a part of it. I think its time for me and
Sebastian to get back to our time."

"We don't know how to send Sebastian back," said Dean. "We didn't cast a spell
to bring him here."

"I got here by a spell of my own," said Sebastian. "I'll just reword it and orb
back to Xander once you've sent him back."

"We don't know how to send him back, though," said Drake. "We didn't exactly
mean to bring him here to begin with."

"You're the charmed ones," said Sebastian. "If you think about it hard enough,
you'll know how to do it."

"I think I know how to send him back," said Eliza. "We used a spell to call
someone from the future once. It didn't work for us, but if we reword the spell,
it will work for you."

"Its worth a try," agreed Damon. "We can't exactly keep him here."

Eliza sat down with the note pad and wrote the spell while the others got white
candles to make a circle. As Dean lit the candles, Eliza handed the spell to
Drake to read. Damon looked over his shoulder. He wondered how Dean really felt
about sending his son back to the future. So many questions were unanswered.

Dean stood and hugged Xander tight. He may not have known he would ever be a
father, but just knowing that Xander was his son filled him with pride. He just
hoped that he could become the kind of father that Xander would need.

"There's so much I want to say to you," he said when he let go of Xander. "I
just don't know how."

"I love you, Dad," said Xander, smiling at him. "You don't have to say anything
to me. I know that when I get back to my time, you'll be there, and you know
what to say in my time."

"Don't think you're getting out of this without hugging me," said Damon when
Xander looked at him. He smiled at his future nephew and thought, for the first
time, about having children of his own.

"I love you, Uncle Damon," Xander whispered as he wrapped his arms around Damon.
"You have no idea how much your love and patience means to me in my time."

"My turn," said Drake as soon as the two men separated. "Come here, you."

"Uncle Drake, you are the coolest guy in the world," said Xander as he was
enveloped in Drake's arms. "I love you."

"Xander, I'm so happy to know you," said Eliza, coming up to hug him. "I'm very
proud of the man you've grown into."

"Aunt Eliza, this isn't the last time you'll see me," laughed Xander, hugging
her. "I was talking to you when I got pulled back here, remember?"

"That's right," she said, giggling. "Well, you'd better get back there and
finish our conversation."

"Un . . . I mean David," said Xander once he was free of Eliza's embrace.

"Come here, kid," said David, wrapping his arms around his future son. He wanted
so badly to tell him that he knew the truth, but he'd promised to keep what he
knew to himself. He noticed Sebastian looking at him hard while he hugged
Xander, and he smiled. "Take care of yourself, Xander."

"Don't stay angry, David," Xander replied. "Everything will work out for you in
the future."

"I believe you," replied David, letting go of him.

Xander smiled at them as he stepped into the circle of candles. There was so
much that he wanted to say to them, so much that he wanted to warn them about.
He knew that he couldn't, though. Changing the future could be disastrous. He
knew that they would be all right, though. After all, they were all alive in his
time.

Dean, David, Damon, Drake and Eliza stood in a row in front of Xander and held
hands. They smiled at him as they began to say the spell to send him back to his
time.

"We call upon the ancient power in this day and on his hour. On the winds of
time, send him back to the night he left and be exact," they read together.

White lights surrounded Xander, and he waived just before he disappeared. The
others looked at each other as each of them sighed. Learning that Xander existed
was a shock for all of them. They thought about how he would come to be as they
all turned to look at Sebastian.

"Its time for me to say goodbye," he said. He walked over to shake hands with
each of them, but Drake pulled him into a hug. He felt Drake's body go rigid
once they embraced, and he knew what it meant. He just hoped he could get out of
there before they tried to stop him.

"Everything has its time and its place," he said, smiling at them as he let go
of Drake. He focused his mind on Xander as he continued. "Take me to whom I seek
through time and space." The red, white and blue orbs surrounded him, and then
he was gone.

"Its time for me to take my leave as well," said Eliza as she took her sons into
her arms. "Protect each other. I love you both so much."

"I love you, too," said Drake as Dax said the same thing.

She stepped into the circle of candles where Xander had been and smiled at all
of them. "The charmed ones. Blessed be," she said.

"Blood of my blood, vessel of my birth, I release you now from the coils of
Earth," said Drake and smiled as the white lights surrounded his mother and she
vanished.

"And then there were five," said David, smiling at them.

"I had a premonition when I hugged Sebastian," Drake said quickly. "The living
Sebastian is going to die very soon."

"What exactly did you see?" David asked.

"A warlock cursing him," said Drake as he went to the book and began to search
for the warlock he'd seen in his vision. "I found the curse he used. Its in the
book, actually," he said as he placed his hand on the page he was looking at.
"Its actually called 'The Unbreakable Curse'."

"Unbreakable?" Dean asked in shock. "There has to be a way to break the curse
he's under."

"But if we could break the curse, Sebastian wouldn't die and become the white
lighter that we just sent back to the future," Damon thought out loud.

The cousins looked at each other as each of them thought of the ramifications of
what Damon had said. What else would be changed if they saved Sebastian? Who
else wouldn't be there in the future?

Coming up . . . .

Will David tell Dean what Sebastian revealed
to him about their future? Will Dax's new powers consume him? Will the cousins
be able to lift the curse and set the living Sebastian free? The answers are
coming. Look for Chapter Seven: The Unbreakable Curse. Coming Soon!